Canterbury R 12 August 2017 – R 7 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA16731
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 12 August 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/08/12
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
Mr Phelan having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Phelan is fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 143rd Grand National Steeplechase (Prestige), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jumps Jockey (Class D), Mr S C Phelan, alleging that Mr Phelan, as the rider of UPPER CUT in the race, “made a celebratory gesture prior to his horse passing the winning post.”
Mr Phelan was present at the hearing of the information. He indicated that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(2) A Rider shall not make a celebratory gesture prior to his horse passing the winning post.
Mr Oatham showed to the hearing video replays of the final stages of the race. He pointed out UPPER CUT, ridden by Mr Phelan, jumping the last fence approximately 100 metres from the finish with KINA WIN (S Higgins) disputing the lead on its outer. From that point, UPPER CUT took control and, while still well short of the winning post, Mr Phelan “launched into quite an extravagant salute”. This was 2-3 strides short of the line, Mr Oatham submitted.
Mr Phelan had nothing to say other than he got “caught up in the moment”.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said that the video replays were quite clear. While he could understand Mr Phelan’s “exuberance”, the Rule exists for a good reason. He referred to the most recent breach of the Rule in which the rider of the winner of the Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes (a Group 1 two-year-old race) was fined $400.
Mr Oatham said that Mr Phelan’s recent record under the Rule was clear. He submitted that a fine in the range of $300-400 was appropriate.
Mr Phelan submitted that a fine was more severe on a Jumps Jockey who only rode for six months of the year. Mr Oatham commented that Jumps Jockeys do get 10% of the stake earned.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $300 fine for a first breach of the Rule. The Committee regarded, as an aggravating factor, the status of the race (a Prestige Jumping Race) and the stake payable ($75,000). For that factor, we uplifted the starting point to $350. We considered this particular breach to be no worse than mid-range.
Mitigating factors were Mr Phelan’s previous good record and his frank admission of the breach. We believe that a discount of $50 is appropriate for a combination of those two factors.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
Dmitry: This section contains all JCA fields migrated from the raw data.
Data from these fields should be mapped appropriately to display amongst the standard fields above; please make note of any values below that are missing in the above standard fields but should be there.
hearingid: d9ba25f96a4f7fb6a41aaea54924a628
informantnumber: A09505
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Celebratory Whip Gesture
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/08/2017
hearing_title: Canterbury R 12 August 2017 - R 7 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 143rd Grand National Steeplechase (Prestige), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jumps Jockey (Class D), Mr S C Phelan, alleging that Mr Phelan, as the rider of UPPER CUT in the race, “made a celebratory gesture prior to his horse passing the winning post.”
Mr Phelan was present at the hearing of the information. He indicated that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(2) A Rider shall not make a celebratory gesture prior to his horse passing the winning post.
Mr Oatham showed to the hearing video replays of the final stages of the race. He pointed out UPPER CUT, ridden by Mr Phelan, jumping the last fence approximately 100 metres from the finish with KINA WIN (S Higgins) disputing the lead on its outer. From that point, UPPER CUT took control and, while still well short of the winning post, Mr Phelan “launched into quite an extravagant salute”. This was 2-3 strides short of the line, Mr Oatham submitted.
Mr Phelan had nothing to say other than he got “caught up in the moment”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Phelan having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said that the video replays were quite clear. While he could understand Mr Phelan’s “exuberance”, the Rule exists for a good reason. He referred to the most recent breach of the Rule in which the rider of the winner of the Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes (a Group 1 two-year-old race) was fined $400.
Mr Oatham said that Mr Phelan’s recent record under the Rule was clear. He submitted that a fine in the range of $300-400 was appropriate.
Mr Phelan submitted that a fine was more severe on a Jumps Jockey who only rode for six months of the year. Mr Oatham commented that Jumps Jockeys do get 10% of the stake earned.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $300 fine for a first breach of the Rule. The Committee regarded, as an aggravating factor, the status of the race (a Prestige Jumping Race) and the stake payable ($75,000). For that factor, we uplifted the starting point to $350. We considered this particular breach to be no worse than mid-range.
Mitigating factors were Mr Phelan’s previous good record and his frank admission of the breach. We believe that a discount of $50 is appropriate for a combination of those two factors.
penalty:
Mr Phelan is fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(2)
Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: S C Phelan, Licensed Jumps Jockey (Class D)
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: bb07dbb005ed67b34a7693959b1e2ddc
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7cf87b9edf6d7ea56ec09b262c0308f7
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/08/2017
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 12 August 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing